Composer of Music and Software

Creating video game sounds

I recently discovered some awesome tools for creating synthesized sounds. The sounds they generate are just like the sort of things you hear in an 8-bit Nintendo game.
First there is BFXR. You can easily get started by clicking the presets on the left. They aren’t “fixed” presets, but rather random distributions, so if you click “Explosion” repeatedly it generates several sounds that resemble explosions. Then you can manipulate the various synthesis parameters. The “Mutation” button jiggles the parameters a little bit. Way cool!
Then I found LabChirp, another fun tool with a similar purpose. LapChirp focuses on layering several synthesized shapes. It’s not quite as freakishly easy to use as BFXR, but it’s powerful and it also has a randomizer function to help you get going.
Two great programs for creating new sounds for your next homemade video game!